University of Arizona Athletics

2025 Season
In her seventh season on staff with the GymCats, associate head coach Taylor Spears led the 2025 squad to a successful season on beam with a season high of 49.300. The GymCats posted a 49.00 or higher in seven meets and earned nine individual beam titles throughout the season. Arizona finished the season ranked No. 20 on beam by Road to Nationals. Under Spears’ guidance, Elena Deets was named Big 12 Specialist of the Year competing on bars and beam. Spears, along with the others assistant coaches, were named WCGA Regional Assistant Coaches of the Year. This is the second time that Spears has received this honor during her time with Arizona.

2024 Season
In Spears’ sixth season with Arizona, the GymCats finished the season ranked No. 24 by Road to Nationals and were ranked No. 19 on the balance beam. During the 2024 season, the GymCats posted two team scores in the top 10 in program history – 197.000 vs. Stanford (seventh highest) and 196.950 at the TWU Quad Meet (ninth highest). Under Spears’ guidance on balance beam, Arizona set a program record with a 49.625 on the event at Washington and also earned the fifth highest beam score in program history with a 49.425 against Oregon State.

2023 Season
Spears was named Associate Head Coach in May 2022. In Spears’ fifth season with the program, the GymCats finished with a final NQS rank of No. 21 – the program’s highest final ranking since 2016. Spears led the beam team to a final rank of No. 15 – a ten-rank improvement from the 2022 season and the highest final beam ranking since Spears’ time on staff. At the Pac-12 Championships, the beam team posted a 49.400 – which ranks fifth in program history – under Spears’ guidance.
 
2022 Season
The GymCats finished the season with a final rank of No. 26 in Spears' fourth year as assistant coach. She led the beam team to a final rank of No. 25, a seven-rank improvement from 2021. Spears coached junior Sirena Linton to qualify to the NCAA Gymnastics Championship as an individual competitor on the balance beam and second-team All-America honors.
 
2021 Season
In her third season with the GymCats, Spears led the beam team to a final rank of No. 32 and helped the team finish the season with a final NQS rank of No. 27. Under her guidance, sophomore Malia Hargrove qualified to the NCAA Gymnastics Championship as an individual competitor on the floor exercise.
 
2020 Season
Spears helped Arizona to a final national rank of No. 27 and coached the beam team to a final rank of No. 23, an 11-rank improvement from the 2019 season. Spears earned Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year for her work with the team's culture, academics, recruiting efforts, and leotard designs. 
 
2019 Season
During Spears’ first season with Arizona, she helped the GymCats qualify to the NCAA Corvallis Regional and Haylie Hendrickson qualify to Regionals as an individual on the balance beam.
 
Before Arizona
Spears was a member of the University of North Carolina's coaching staff during the 2018 season as an assistant coach, helping UNC rank No. 6 nationally on the floor exercise during the regular season. At UNC, she helped senior, Morgan Lane, qualify to the NCAA Championships as an all-arounder. Previously, Spears spent two years as a volunteer coach at the University of Oklahoma, helping her alma mater win back-to-back NCAA gymnastics championships in 2016-2017.

As a student-athlete at OU, she won an NCAA team title and was the 2014 NCAA individual champion on the balance beam as a senior. That year, she was also an All-America on the uneven bars, was an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, and a finalist for the AAI Gymnastics Award recognizing the most outstanding college senior.

In 2013, Spears was the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year and was the Big 12 all-around, beam and bars individual champion. She earned All-America honors as a junior in the all-around, bars and beam.

Spears was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. She also spent three years as a head coach at the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in Norman, Okla. In 2017, one of her gymnasts from Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy became the USAG JO National champion on the balance beam.

Trained at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas under coaches Evgeny Marchenko and Laurie Dix. Competed at the 2005 Voronin Cup in Moscow, Russia. Was a three-time JO National qualifier, and also qualified to the 2006 U.S. Classic.